We had a nice day of wind and good attendance for the SOLING 50 SUMMER REGATTA. The class had a 9 boat fleet all eager to earn a shot at the elusive annual chevron award. Competitive RC Sailing at its best! Our top 3 sailors at the podium today all earned that award! CONGRATULATIONS, 1st-Ken Campbell, 2nd-Gerry Wold and 3rd-Kerim Baran. Special recognition to Kerim for achieving his first Chevron. FANTASTIC..
Ok guys – If our friend Bob Williams can go twelve races on two bad knees and a pair of roller-skates – we just don’t have any excuses, do we! Thank you Bob for being our inspiration!
As always- a standing ovation to Fred Rocha for his leadership, support and enthusiasm.. Also a big hand for todays volunteers. Kim Robbins, Greg Williams, Ty Beach (Soling 50 Class Secretary) and Ben Reeves (drone pilot).
Happy Fourth of July fellow Argonauts.
On this holiday I feel it is an ideal time to express my appreciation to ALL members that make our hobby and recreation possible at “Our Pond”. This includes every member.. You all count. A huge THANK YOU for you participation!
For those who are still in dry dock, now is the time to dust off the rigs and start becoming active again. Our Santa Barbara fleet is looking for more boats and invite all inactive sailors back. ODOM’s and Soling 50’s are also always looking for more competitive fleets. It’s time to join in on the fun!
It is said that “It Takes a Village”. Now is a good time to get involved. Just for the love of our hobby and camaraderie. It’s not just about winning a race. It’s about success as a group. It’s time to pull together and make Race-Week a huge success! For those whose have not registered for their perspective fleet, time is running short.
REGISTER & ONLINE PAYMENT AT AMYA website: https://www.theamya.org/regatta/thisYear/race_st.php#CA
Thank You Ken Campbell for another informative Racing Rules Clinic. These seminars can provide useful information and help us all become better sailors. One of the topics of discussions was calling for room with port/starboard boat situations and obstructions. I think he has a crystal ball..
Fred Rocha once again set a fun course with predominant southwest to west winds averaging 8-9mph. Fred also served as RD extraordinaire!! Our hats are off for VC of Sail!
Soling 50’s sailed a 6 race series with just a small handful of on the water fouls. Two discrepancies were heard by protest committee Rogers 3 & Rogers 2+1. I think it is always easier and kinder to the scoresheet to clear infractions on the water.
2 S/B’s and ODOM’s with a delayed start, shared the course for a six race series. Nice Sailing.
Thank You Kim Robbins and Jeff Fletcher for assisting Fred Rocha with equipment cleanup and storage.. The lock was checked twice!
I want to offer a shout out to Kerry Law, who reached out to our fearless leader with a generous offer to donate some beautiful RC boats made by her extremely talented dad. All of the boats appear to be meticulously crafted and engineered, needing only some minor maintenance and radio gear to get them ready for the pond. This was a fabulous gift, and it will boost our recruitment efforts when they are brought to the pond and run. Shown are the two scale models I received today. To my right is a Coast Guard utility boat, and to my left is a German Wasserschutzpolizei boat. These boats patrol the waterways, lakes and harbors of Germany around the clock. –Rob Wood
Kerry, a huge thanks to your family. Your dad was clearly a master craftsman. I spent much of the weekend with a smile on my face as I updated two with modern running gear, cleaned, greased, and tested them.
Berkeley Chris Craft Cobra (Built by Pete Law 1994) 1:8 Scale (1 1/2″ = 1′) Length: 31″ Beam: 10 3/8″
Sterling Chris Craft 63′ Motor Yacht (Built by Pete Law 1984) Sterling kit B-11M 1:19 Scale Length: 40″ Beam: 10 1/4″
A huge thanks from Mark Weber! (Check out Mark’s video if their first test run.)
Originally, club member Ken Wilson planned on picking up the Sterling 63′ Motor Yacht. However, that quickly turned into a trade for Mark Weber’s dusty Emma C Berry RC sailboat (Built by Ed Sayres). In other words, the donated boats indirectly got other models into the right hands to make sure they see the sun and Pond again.
Other overjoyed recipients!
Thanks Kerry! We have the upmost respect to your dad Pete Law, a master craftsman.
Event Photos & Videos:
Get ready for the combined booth of the San Diego Argonauts, Western Warship Combat Club, San Diego Ship Modeler’s Guild, and NAMBA!
Members, get your RC models ready! Chat with Rob & Mark to learn more.
Makers, come check out these awesome RC boats, combat ships, and awesome hands-on activities!
For More Info on Maker Faire San Diego:
http://
Clubs Represented at Our Booth:
Instructions for Volunteers:
We’ve been given a fantastic indoor space, right in front of the entrance to the Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park. We will have access to the space for setting up, starting on Friday at 4:00 PM, and at 8:00 AM on Saturday, 9:00 AM on Sunday. We have parking, secure storage, power and restrooms, with a cafe just up the stairs above us. This will be a high-traffic area during the event, but with a perfectly-controllable, roped-in area along the busy thoroughfare. WE NEED BOATS AND SHIPS TO DISPLAY! You need not commit to the full weekend, or even a full day, but we need as many people and boats/submarines and ships as possible.
See photos below for an unloading map and a look at the space.
Many thanks to Steve Sidell for these incredible photos!!!
For more photos and more info:
http://sandiegocup.weebly.com/
and
http://stevesidellpictures.pixieset.com/rc-sandiegocup/
San Diego Argonauts’ Scale Boat Regatta
by Jeff Sparksworthy
On June 25th, 2016 a motley crew of Captains, First Mates, and Able Bodied Seapersons dared the submerged shoals, sandbars, shore batteries, volcanoes, and other obstacles to compete in the San Diego Argonauts’ Scale Boat Regatta at and in San Diego’s Vacation Island model boat pond. Water locked landlubbers came all the way from Huntington Beach, Riverside, and San Bernardino for the chance to test their piloting skills in the salty brine of our pond. They were joined by a throng of spectators and other scale builders who were either sodium-averse or hydrophobic, but who nonetheless captured the imaginations on many a would be tar or future modeler. In addition, Rob Wood of the near maniacal sect of battle pond enthusiasts was there to lend a hand and to try to induce other boaters to join his cult of like-minded sailors who actually plan on sinking their boats.
The awards, although rigged like a schooner, went to the following old salts:
In the Best of Class, the winners in each class are:
In Navigation the winners were:
The BEST of SHOW went to Mr. Tony G. (who, wishing to dodge the paparazzi and gold diggers, refused to provide last name).
The whole affair was deemed a smashing success – in no small part to the efforts of Rosemary Kapler who catered the event – knowing full well how cranky hungry sailors can be. The only complaint was that the grog was watered down.
Additional logistics were provided by the future president of the Argonauts, young Master Dave Kaplar, who helped the old salts rinse off (and he cleaned their boats too!). Jeff Sparksworthy and Vice Commodore David Alvarez ran the registration table and carefully cooked the scorekeeping books, as well as selling tickets, and making award plaques.
Special thanks are due to Rob Wood, Martin Bunch, David Manley, and Don Johnson for heading the judging. Thousands were raised in bribes alone! Another big, calloused hand goes to galley slave Ron Tindall for rowing while Mark Weber set up islands and to Don Johnson for bringing them in.
We all deeply appreciate the continued support of John at Discount Hobby Warehouse and we all need to thank Jimmie Hawkins for his mystery raffle prize. Other donors include Mike Rivera’s for tools, Martin Bunch for kits, and Don Johnson for motors. A shout of “thanks” goes to all of the other named and anonymous prize donors.
![IMG_20160625_135941553[1]](https://www.sandiegoargonauts.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_20160625_1359415531.jpg)
The event seems to grow like a barnacle and yet to somehow get better every year, due in great part to the “all hands on deck” attitude of the scale division and to the support of our fellow obsessives in the sail division. We even had some people crossing the once dangerous taboo between sail and motor driven groups. Perhaps we should have a shellback ceremony next year to welcome them to this side of the equator. Some intrepid sailors even made a mad dash to run their boats through the obstacle course under sail, although their comments can’t be printed in a family publication.
The Argonauts are looking forward to making next year’s regatta bigger and better with 
more entries, a submarine class, and a special category of heaviest AND ugliest boat to placate a certain obnoxious amateur builder.
Thanks to all who worked at and attended our event and my apologies to any and all who expected the full truth and nothing but the truth in this press release.
Want to see more stuff?
The Scale Boat Division of the San Diego Argonauts is hosting a regatta!
What to Expect:
Details: In 2015 we revived scale boat regattas in San Diego! We had a great family-friendly event, and we’re planning another one for 2016. Come on down to the San Diego Model Yacht Pond on Vacation Isle Park.
Parking: Parking is free and first come first serve. Park on north side of the pond. Additional parking southeast of the pond.
Bring: Bring your own table, chair & sun screen. Bring a scale boat to run through our navigation course. Bring money for lunch & raffle and spare stuff for trading.
Rinse Table: Yup, the pond is saltwater. It’s connected to the San Diego bay and is fed through the tide. This keeps our pond like very few other. Model boaters have been using this pond for 80+ years. We just rinse our boats after use. We’ll have a rinse table setup to make rinsing easier than ever.
RSVP is not necessary. However, feel free to e-mail David Alvarez dalvarez2@san.rr.com with questions or to let us know you’ll be joining. Or, let us know by checking on on:
Last year’s event was a total success! Check out photos from our 2015 summer regatta here.
FLYERS:
We had an awesome Scale Boat Fun Run this past Saturday. It featured a navigation course with islands, barge pulling, a great lunch and a solid raffle. Despite the overcast day, we had a great turnout from the San Diego, Los Angeles, & Riverside areas.
More photos & videos:
Our next Scale Boat Division event:
Setting up the course:
The 2016 San Diego Argonauts Scale Boat Fun Run:
